1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for sending and producing stereoscopic (3-dimensional) television images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several three-dimensional television picture display systems are described in the periodical "Journal of the SMPTE", July 1971, pages 539 to 544, which is hereby incorporated by reference. One system utilizes shutters that allow a "left eye image" and a "right eye image" to be alternately displayed on a display device. The right eye image is polarized in one direction and the left eye image is polarized in the other direction. The images alternate at approximately 60 cycles a second so that, using glasses having analyzer lenses, each eye sees alternate ones of the displayed images. While this does present a picture that appears to be 3-dimensional, the alternating images produce a flickering effect which is difficult to view and does not produce an optimum picture. The rate of alternation (frame rate) can be increased to reduce the flicker, however, this requires more bandwidth and/or higher scanning rates, thereby increasing the complexity and cost of the system.
An alternative system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,263 entitled THREE-DIMENSIONAL TELEVISION SYSTEM AND TRANSMITTER SUITABLE THEREFOR, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This system uses color to separate the left and right images. In this system, first and second pick-up devices for recording a scene from different positions are used. A picture display device displays, in two different colors, information intended for the left and right eyes, respectively. When the overall picture is observed with two eyes through glasses having lenses of different colors, a 3-dimensional image results. The problem with this system is that the left and right images have different colors and brightnesses and, thus, are annoying to the viewer. This system also results in poor color perception.